Only Time Can Tell
by Slytherin Princess34
Summary: When Father Time comes to visit, Hogwarts falls under attack. What will happen when the Ultimate Time Turner falls into the hands of a five year old child? Only time can tell.
1. Chapter 1

"SEVERUS! SEVERUS," Minerva called rushing through the castle in search for the potions professor._ 'Oh for Merlin's sake where could he be?'_ she thought. Just as she turned the corner she found him walking down the hall, towards the Headmaster's office. "SEVERUS!" He stops and turns towards her to reprimand her for running through the halls and screaming like a first year.

"Minerva what in world are you screaming for? As you can see classes are still in session and-"

"Severus there is no time to explain, you have to come with me it's important!" She said while taking hold of his hand. He quickly removes his hand from her hold.

"As you can see I am busy so unless someone is dying then it will have to wait." He says. He turns and walks away.

"Severus! Severus, you need to come with me now! Do not walk away from me!" She cries as she runs after him down the hall. She grabs onto his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"Honestly Minerva what the bloody hell could be so important that you have to go running through the castle screaming out my name as if you were being chased by a basilisk?" He asked giving her one of his signature sneers.

"Watch your language with me Severus Snape and the fact that your wife has gone into labor and is asking for you should be reason enough!"She cries as she steps in front of him.

"WHAT!" He exclaimed.

"That's what I have been trying to tell you." She states.

"Merlin's beard Minerva, why didn't you tell me sooner?!" He cries. "Where is she?"

"She's in your room, with Madame Pomfrey."

"Thank you Minerva." He quickly takes off in the direction of the dungeons.


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile…

"Hermione, you need to calm down and breathe." Madame Pomfrey explains for the third time.

"I'm trying but it's incredibly painful. Oh sweet Merlin, make it stop! Please make the pain stop! It hurts too much!" She sobs as a contraction racks her body. She was tired, frustrated, and in pain from going into labor. She didn't want to lie down in her bed. She wanted to be up and moving. She wanted to be in her library reading books. But most of all she wanted the fucking pain to stop!

"Hermione you need to calm down. Minerva is going to get Severus as we speak. He will bring a stronger brewed calming drought. You wouldn't want him to see you this way would you?" She said, not knowing that saying her husband's name was going to make her more hysterical.

"Severus? Where is Severus? Why isn't he here? Oh Merlin, he doesn't love us and he doesn't want the baby! He abandoned us!" She cried sobbing her heart out.

Just then the door burst open revealing a worried looking Severus. "Hermione love, are you alright?" He asked, coming over to her. "Why are you crying?" He asked, his hand caressing her cheek.

"I'm sorry; please don't leave us, please!" She sobs, wrapping her arms around his neck. He turns his head to look at Madame Pomfrey with a look of curiosity.

"She thinks that you are going to leave her and the baby." She stated.

"Why would she think that I'm going to leave them?" He asks.

"She thinks that you don't want the baby. She also thinks that you don't love them." She explains.

"Oh Hermione," he sighs wrapping his arms around her and slowly rubbing her back. "Hermione, Hermione look at me my love," he begs. She slowly raises her tear stained face to look into his eyes. "Hermione there are two things that I want you to understand the first is that when you told me that you were pregnant I wanted nothing more than to find a way to get our child here as fast as possible and give him or her everything I didn't have in my childhood; happiness, love, hugs, kisses, and stuffed animals. I still don't understand why you won't let me buy every stuffed animal in the world for our child, but I will be extremely excited to give him or her the stuffed dragon that we agreed on to start with." He says. She laughs at that comment. "The second is that I love you with all my heart and I don't know what I did to deserve someone like you but I know that I will never let you go. And when the baby is born I will continue to love him or her as I do now. I promise that I will spend the rest of my life showing the both of you just how much I love you both." He says.

"Oh Severus, I love you so- AHHHH!" She screams from the pain of another contraction.

"Severus you either need to step aside or leave the room," says Madame Pomfrey.

"I'm not going anywhere. What can I do to help?" He asks.

"Try to comfort her and keep her calm long enough for me to see how dilated she is." She suggests.

"Severus!" Hermione cries reaching for his hand. He grabs her hands and gives it a comforting squeeze.

"It's going to be alright. Just breathe honey. Everything is going to be just fine." He says reassuringly.

"Can't you give me something for the pain?!" She asks with a strained voice. He looks over to the Medi-Witch.

"Pomfrey is it safe to give her anything when she is in this stage?" He asks.

"If she can manage it you can have her drink a potion for pain and a calming drought," she says looking at him. Hermione cries out in pain from another contraction. "You had better make it at strong pain potion." She states. Severus reaches into the inside of his robes to reveal a shrunken box. He quickly unshrinks the box and removes to vials and hands them to his wife. She immediately drinks the potions, right now she would take anything the man handed her if it meant the pain would stop. The potions immediately take the edge of the pain and begins to calm her as well. "Alright Hermione, on the next contraction I need you to push. Can you do that dear?" The Medi-witch asks.

"I think so." She answers. A few seconds later another contraction racks the young woman's body. Hermione pushes and as she does she starts screaming at her husband, "SEVERUS THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU DID THIS TO ME! I AM NEVER LETTING YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN!" All the while she is tightly squeezing her husband's hand; slowly cutting off the circulation in it.

"You're doing very well. Now on the next one I need you to do the same thing," Says Madame Pomfrey when Hermione starts to relax again. Severus notices that she has relaxed again and takes the chance to whisper something to his wife.

"Hermione no matter how talented I am in bed," he whispers in her ear, "I cannot take all the credit for making our child. For you see it takes two to tango my love and whether or not you want to admit it you are just as guilty. Or do I need to remind you by giving you detention in the bedroom once you are fully healed Mrs. Snape?" He teased. As he finishes that last sentence she begins to feel the pain of another contraction and once again begins to push, while streams of profanities pour from her mouth.

"SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE YOU HAD BETTER HOPE TO GODRIC GRIFFINDOR THAT I DON'T GET MY FUCKING HANDS ON YOU BECAUSE WHEN I GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE YOU ARE GOING TO BE FACING THE END OF MY FUCKING WAND FOR WHAT YOU ARE PUTTING ME THROUGH!" She screams.

"Now why would I hope to Godric Griffindor when I was rejected from his house and was put instead into the house of Salazar Slytherin?" He teased once more, wincing at the amount of pain she was causing his hand. _'How can someone so small have so much strength? If she continues to squeeze my hand I might not have my hand anymore.' _He thought. The pressure on his hand slowly fades as his wife tries to relax.

"Alright Hermione, I can see the crown. On the next contraction I need you to push for as long as you can," says Madame Pomfrey. Once again Hermione feels the pain of another contraction and begins to push. She continues to push screaming at the top of her lungs while cutting of the circulation in her husband's hand when suddenly the wail of a new born infant is heard throughout the room. "Congratulations it's a..."


	3. Chapter 3

"Congratulations it's a girl." Madame Pomfrey says with a smile. "Do you have a name for her yet or would you like to think of one while I get her cleaned up?" She asks. Hermione and Severus turn to to look at each other, then turn back to Madame Pomfrey with a smile gracing their faces.

"Nevaeh Eileen Snape," they say in unison.

"Well now that that is settled, how about I get her cleaned up and then you can hold her? How does that sound?" She asks them.

"I think that would be a wise choice." Severus said. "Meanwhile I am going to try and stop any chances of excess bleeding. I will also give her a blood replenishing potion, a pain potion, and a sleeping drought" he says to her. Madame Pomfrey looks at them with a smile, gives a nod of approval, then turns and heads out of the bedroom with the newborn infant.

"But I don't want to go to sleep Sev," says Hermione. "I want to see our daughter. I-"

"Don't worry love, you will get to see her," he says cutting her off before she could make anymore protests. "I will not deny you the chance to hold her before I make you rest. You did wonderfully, love." He says giving her a smile.

"Thank you, Sev. I'm just glad that its all over and the pain is gone." She says returning his smile. She moves her body to find a more comfortable position to lie in and winces when she feels a stab of pain. _'Well almost gone'_ she thinks to herself.

"So am I. Now tell me, how is it that you have so much strength in your hand that you almost made me lose mine?" He asked teasing her, but otherwise very curious.

"Well aside from exercising and carrying so many books around-"

"Yes because heaven forbid you not have a book at all times." He jokes, cutting her off.

"Oh you're one to talk. Don't think I don't know you have been visiting the library four to five times a week, during lunch and end up borrowing at _least_ six potions books and eight DADA books." She responded with a smirk. He blushes at having gotten caught. "But that is beside the point. The only other explanation I can give you for my strength other than exercising and carrying books would have to be having constantly done arm wrestling competitions growing up." She said. Not expecting such an answer from her, he raises an eyebrow in question.

"Would you mind telling me what you are doing arm wrestling? More importantly _whom_ have you been arm wrestling?" He asks out of curiosity.

"Well you see-" She began.

"Alright dearies, we're back." Says Madame Pomfrey as she enters the room with Nevaeh.

"I'll tell you later." Hermione whispers to Severus.

"Now do you know how to hold a baby Mrs. Snape?" Madame Pomfrey asks.

"Yes Madame Pomfrey, I do. Now if you would be so kind as to give me my child it would be much appreciated." She replied sarcastically.

"I swear ever since you married Severus you have become more like him." She said shaking her head as she handed of the baby to her.

"You say that as if it is a bad thing." Hermione says. "Hello Nevaeh; welcome to family." She whispers to the baby with a smile on her face. She leans over and kisses the top of her daughter's head.

"In some cases it is." She snapped. Hermione was too busy admiring her daughter to pay any attention to what the Medi-Witch said. Nevaeh had a full head of curly black hair. Her skin was pale white with little freckles. Her lips, which were a soft rose pink color, were in a full blown pout._ 'Oh Merlin she inherited her mother's pout. It's hard enough resisting that pout from a full grown woman, but from an infant? One of them will be the death of_ _me.' _Thought Severus as he got a closer look at his newborn baby girl. He noticed that she hadn't inherited his hooked nose and was sincerely relieved at this fact. Instead she had a cute little button nose. Just then Nevaeh opened her eyes and looked at her parents for the first time in her life. They soon found out that she also inherited Hermione's big brown doe eyes._ 'Its official I won't be able to deny my little princess anything if she uses that look on me in the future.'_ Severus thought. _'__Hell I think she might even give Hermione a run for her money if she pouts like this.' _He smirks at this thought.

"What's so funny?" His wife asks.

"You might have some competition in the future darling," he says with a chuckle.

"And you dear will have boys lined up at the front door asking to date our daughter." She says with a smirk. He growled at that comment.

"No boy or man will date my little girl because they will never be good enough for her. And God help the boy or man who even tries to ask her. They will be facing the end of my wand before they can even get within a mile of her!"He threatens, suddenly feeling very protective of his little princess.

"Merlin help the man who gets caught kissing her." Hermione laughs. At this thought Severus immediately starts to think of various ways of torture if he were to ever find some unworthy bastard lip locked with his daughter.

"Yes, Merlin help him." He replies.


	4. Chapter 4

Minerva watches Severus take off down the hall towards the dungeon. _'It would take a miracle for him to actually hear me out before he starts to make excuses'_ she thinks._ 'Oh well, at least now he knows what is going on and hopefully won't cause too much trouble with the birth of his new child.'_ She starts to walk down the hall in the direction of the Headmaster's office to inform him of the events that are taking place. She stops in front of the gargoyle that guards the entrance to the Headmaster's office.

"Password" asks the gargoyle.

"Butter Scotch" she answers. The gargoyle moves to the side and allows her to enter. She steps onto the first step and it begins to spiral up to the office. The steps come to a stop and she knocks on the door.

"Enter" calls the Headmaster. She opens the door and enters the room.

"Ah, Minerva my dear, to what do I owe this pleasure?" He asks with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Why Albus, I didn't think that a wife would need a reason to visit her husband." She said teasingly.

"You are quite right my darling. You do not need a reason." He said, getting up to stand in front of her and bring her into a hug. He kisses the top of her head, and then tilts her head up so that their eyes meet. "However," he continues "I have gotten many visits from the portraits saying that you were running through the school halls, yelling for someone like you were being chased by a basilisk." The twinkle in his eyes gets brighter as he says this to her. With this she blushes at having been seen in such an unprofessional manner. "Would you care to explain your actions darling?" He asks.

"That's not funny. Severus had said almost the exact same thing." She said with a look of embarrassment. "Why did you both use the term basilisk?" She asked, trying to distract him.

"It may be due to the fact that you were chased by that serpent back in your third year. Also when we went down to inspect the basilisk you nearly destroyed everyone's ear drums when you saw how big it was." He said with a smirk. "Now why were running through the hall screaming my love?" He asked.

"Honey, please forgive my behavior and actions that I have presented this morning, but considering the situation, I do believe my actions were actually quite justified," she said. "You see Mrs. Snape had gone into labor about an hour ago-"

"Ah, that is wonderful; I was wondering when she would be due." He interrupted.

"Yes and she had asked me to find and inform her husband of her current state. After agreeing to deliver the news I left to go inform him. However, I could not find him at first and proceeded to try and find him as promptly as I could. When I finally did find him he refused to listen to me until I mentioned that his wife had gone into labor. After that he had taken off and I came here." She explained.

"I understand but could you not have gone about finding him in another way?" He asked.

"I will admit I might have taken the search a bit overboard. It will not happen again." She promised.

"Well, now that we have that sorted out how about we go and congratulate them on their new addition to the family." He said. "Shall we?" He asked, offering his arm to her.

"We shall." She said looping her arm through his. They left the office and started down the hall in the directions of the dungeons. They reached the doors to the Snape's room and knocked. Madame Pomfrey opened the door with a smile on her face and allowed them to pass through the entrance.


	5. Chapter 5

Severus got on the bed and put his arms around his wife and daughter. He looks down at his baby girl with a smile and then turns to press a kiss to the side off his wife's head.

"Thank you." He says to her.

"For what?" Hermione asks.

"For everything," He answers. "For loving me; for marrying me; for giving me a daughter; but most of all for giving me this chance to have a family." He says with tear filled eyes. "If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here right now. I would either be dead or in Azkaban wishing I was dead. You gave me a second chance at life. You continued to love me and believe in me even after I told you that it was my fault that Potter-" She glares at him, "-Harry" he corrected "had become an orphan. Any other person would have left me to die but you decided to save me, even after all the hell I put you through." He says. He quickly looks down to hide the tears that were streaming down his face.

"Oh Sev," She says. She shifts Nevaeh so that she is being cradled in her left arm while she raises her right arm to caress his cheek. "Sev love, please look at me" she says. He slowly raises his head to look at her. "It is I who should be thanking you. You see when the war was over I thought I was going to be alone for the rest of my life since I had obliviated my parents. Instead you decided to help me to return my parents memories to them. You gave me back my family. You also helped to not only protect the world from being taken over, but you also protected Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I as well. You could have let Ron die in first year when he was extremely injured from playing the chess board, but instead you had made stronger healing potions for his recovery. You could have let Ginny die when she opened the Chamber of Secrets, but instead you helped me to figure out what the monster was and how it was getting around the school. You could have let Harry die quite a few ties actually, but instead you protected him from Voldemort." He winces. "And you could have let me die when Dolohov hit me with that curse, but instead you saved me. You stayed by my side for a week until I regained consciousness. You cancelled all your classes that week to ensure that I survived that curse.

"Since I started Hogwarts," she continued, "all I could think about was how much I needed a challenge, and you were right there giving me one every day. Yes you made our lives a living hell, but that is nothing compared to what you had to go through. You had to be a spy, a death eater, a teacher, a friend, a godfather, and a murderer. But you never got to be yourself. Everyone deserves a second chance, including you. And though you made my life a living hell, I would go through it all again just to get to where we are today. I love you Severus. More than you will ever realize." She said with tears in her eyes.

"I love you to Hermione, and I promise to be the best husband and father I can be for our family. The day you married me was the happiest day of my existence. Today is the happiest day of my life though. I promise to do everything in my power to love and protect our family. You and Nevaeh are my life and nothing and no one is going to change that." He said kissing her passionately. Just then there was a knock at the door. "Bloody hell," he complained, getting ready to get up and see who it is.

"Let Pomfrey get it." Hermione says as she brings him down for another kiss. Madame Pomfrey opens the door with a smile on her face. When she sees who it is she steps aside and allows them to pass through the entrance.


	6. Chapter 6

Albus and Minerva entered the room and were shocked by the sight they were greeted by. They had walked into the bedroom only to find Hermione and Severus in a heated embrace with their newborn infant held close to her mother. Minerva cleared her throat and the couple immediately separated, and looked at their guests with flushed faces, embarrassed at having been caught in such an intimate embrace. Minerva and Albus gave them knowing looks as their eyes twinkled with amusement. The Headmaster's more so than usual.

"I was informed that the newest member of the Snape family was being born and could not resist coming to congratulate the two of you on becoming parents." Albus says.

"Yes, well I'm sure that you could have waited until we _wanted_ to see you." Severus sneered.

"What Severus means is that we are glad to see you. We just weren't expecting to see you so soon after I had just given birth." Hermione says, throwing her husband a glare.

"Actually I wasn't planning on seeing him at all after hearing that you were in labor." He mutters under his breath. Hermione elbows him.

"Behave!" She hisses.

"I am," he whispers with a smirk. Albus and Minerva look at the couple with smirks on their faces.

"Seeing that the baby's blanket is pink, I think it safe to assume that you now have a daughter, correct?" Minerva asks.

"Yes, this is our daughter, Nevaeh Eileen Snape." Severus answers, smiling down at his daughter.

"Would you like to hold her, Minerva?" Hermione asks.

"I would love to." She answers. Hermione carefully passes her daughter off to her grandmother. Minerva holds the baby close to her and begins to rock her back her back and forth. All the while Severus is watching his daughter with a smile on his face. Minerva looks up at him with a look of amusement on her face.

"Dear, Merlin I haven't seen him this happy since he married you Hermione!" Minerva says. Severus sneers at her then turns back to look at his baby girl.

"Severus, you know your mother is right." Albus says.

"If it weren't for the fact that I have to teach a bunch of dunderheads every day, I would smile a lot more." He said with a scowl.

"Oh stop it Severus, you know you love teaching the students so don't even try to deny it." Hermione mock scolds him. "Besides need I remind you that I was one of your students as well? Does that make me a dunderhead as well?" She says with a hurt expression.

"I wouldn't dare to think of you as a dunderhead. You were a student of your very own class. You were one of the few _competent_ students that I actually had the _pleasure_ of teaching. The only time that I dared to think of you as a dunderhead was when you would go gallivanting through the castle searching for trouble with Potter and Weasley." He admitted.

"We were not gallivanting through the castle. And we certainly weren't _looking_ for trouble, we just happened to find it." She stated. "Plus we were never in any _real_ danger and no rules were really broken."

"Oh, so stealing from my private stores, brewing an unapproved ministry restricted poly juice potion in an unsupervised area, knocking out students from another house with drugged food, and trespassing in another house after hours wasn't breaking any rules?" He questioned her. She blushed.

"In my defense I never got to participate in trespassing in the Slytherin common room. I was turned into a cat." She says.

"HA! So you admit that you stole from my stores!" He exclaims.

"Severus that was years ago can't you just let it go?" She pleaded.

"I agree that the issue should be dropped fore she has already faced the consequences of her actions as living as a cat for a week." Albus says, chuckling at the memory. "Speaking of your stores, have you had the chance to child proof them for when the little one begins to move on her own or does that still need to be done?" He asked.

"I think Hermione has child-proofed everything imaginable in the castle." He said with a chuckle.

"Prat," Hermione says, "I have not. There are still a lot of things in the castle that could use some child-proofing. One can never be too careful especially when it comes to the life of their child." She says with a smirk.

"I agree with Hermione. One can never be too careful. I do need to know this however." Minerva says as she rocks the baby. "Have the two of you _finally_ agreed on the color of the nursery or should we choose the color?" She asked.

"_Unfortunately_, the nursery will be in Slytherin colors." Hermione says with a scowl.

"How did he manage to get you to agree to that?" Minerva asks.

"We made a deal and he _cheated_." She answers, her scowl deepening at the explanation.

"Now, now love. Just because you lost to a Slytherin does _not_ mean that I _cheated_." Severus replies smugly.

"Whatever" she says muttering under her breath about how cheaters never prosper. At this the other four adults chuckled. She shifts her body and winces in pain.

"I think it's time you took those potions." He says pulling out three vials and hands them to her.

"Perhaps you're right." She says taking the vials from him and downing two of them.

"Hermione," he warns.

"Severus I told you I don't want to sleep. I'm not tired." She complained. He was about to tell her that she needed rest, when all of a sudden they heard pitiful whimpering then a full blown wail coming from their daughter. Without even thinking about what he was doing, Severus walked over to Minerva, took his daughter out of her hands and started rocking her while whispering, "Shh. It's alright. Daddy's here. Daddy's got you."

"Poppy, Minerva if you have a camera on you then you might want to use it now." Hermione says. They both had brought cameras with them and had begun taking pictures of Severus with his daughter. Severus scowled in a few of them but had to eventually stop because the more he scowled the more Nevaeh would cry.

"Is this really necessary?" Severus asked.

"YES!" The three witches said. He rolled his eyes and went back to rocking Nevaeh. "She most likely wants to be fed. Why don't you want to try feeding her Hermione?" Pomfrey asks.

"That's probably a good idea. Let's try it." She answers. Severus passes Nevaeh to Hermione. She pulls down the top of her shirt and exposes her breast, then offers it to her daughter. Nevaeh immediately nuzzles her mother's breast searching hungrily for the nipple before she latches onto it and begins to suck. Hermione winces and Severus frowns.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"I'm fine. My breasts are just tender." She explained. When she said this he thought of soothing her breasts with his mouth and he was just barely able to suppress a groan. Unfortunately he was unable to stop the bulge from forming in his pants. "He shifted from foot to foot trying to lessen the pain caused by his erection. When he saw his wife cock an eyebrow in question he mouthed 'later'. She nodded and went back to feeding her daughter. "Severus?" She asks.

"Yes love?" He answers.

"Why don't you show our guests the nursery? You could also pick out something for Nevaeh to wear." She said with a smirk.

"Of course love." He says. He turns to their guests and says, "If you would kindly follow me," and walks in the direction of the nursery. A few minutes pass and all of a sudden Severus shouts "HERMIONE JEAN SNAPE YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!" Hermione broke out into fits of laughter knowing that he had looked in their daughter's dresser only to find that not only were the clothes girly, but they also supported Gryffindor.


	7. Chapter 7

Severus led the guests out of the bedroom and headed for the nursery. When they arrived he opened the door and they stepped inside. The two witches gasped at the sight of the nursery, while Albus just shook his head and chuckled. Severus smirked at their reactions. They looked around the room to see every wall covered in green with black and silver designs on them. The furniture was black with green vines wrapping around it. There was a little toy chest filled toys that he had managed to sneak passed Hermione that sat in the corner of the room. In the middle of the room was a rug with the Slytherin crest on it. There was a small shelf attached to one of the walls that would expand as their daughter got older and obtained more books. It contained some baby books for when she begins to read. There was a rocking chair right next to the crib so that they had a place to sit when they were with her. The crib was padded on the sides on the inside so that no harm will come to their daughter. The sheets of the crib were silver, while the blanket was light green. In the corner of the crib there was a little green stuffed dragon. Attached to the crib was a mobile with the Hogwarts mascots on it that played the Hogwarts melody. Next to the crib was the dresser with a green lamp with a white lamp shade that had silver around the top and bottom part of the shade.

"Severus when Hermione said that you get to decorate the nursery did you have to do the _entire_ nursery in _Slytherin_ colors?!" Minerva complained.

"Of course I did Minerva. Surely you didn't think I would decorate it in _Gryffindor_ colors did you?" He answered sarcastically.

"Severus my boy, even I have to admit that you have gone overboard on the Slytherin theme." Albus said.

"Nonsense Albus, there's just enough Slytherin colors in the room to influence Nevaeh on which house she should be in when she begins Hogwarts." Severus says smugly. He then turns to Minerva. "By the way I was thinking about you the entire time I was working on nursery Minerva. I thought you could use a change of scenery and since I know that you will no doubt be in here quite a bit I thought it best that I be the one to provide it for you." He says to her.

"Severus when said I need a change of scenery I meant I wanted to put a real garden on the grounds, not a new Slytherin unit!" She explained.

"I know." He says cheekily as he walks over to the dresser. "But there was _absolutely_ no way I could resist." He calls over his shoulder. He reaches the dresser and opens the top drawer, only to find it filled with pinks, reds, purples, and golden yellows. He frowns and opens the next drawer and finds the exact same colors in different piles. Assuming that the rest of the drawers are the same he pulls out a purple one and looks at it and becomes shocked when he sees 'MOMMY'S LITTLE GRYFFINDOR' on the front of it. He quickly folds it back up and pulls out a red one. This one had 'DADDY'S LITTLE CUB' on it with a picture of a lion on the front and the tail on the back. He quickly drops the shirt and opens the next drawer and pulls out a pink dress that said 'WELCOME TO THE PRIDE.' After he saw this he finally realized what his wife had done. She had not only bought everything in the girliest colors she could get but she also got them in support of her Hogwarts house. His patience was at its breaking point as he checked the last two drawers and found them to be the same as the first three. Then he lost it. "HERMIONE JEAN SNAPE YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!" He shouts. He hears her laugh from the other room and he crosses the nursery with the dress clutched tightly in his hand.

"Severus what's wrong" Poppy asks as he strides past her and out the door. He approaches his wife with a pissed off look on his face.

"WHY?" He asks.

"Why, what Sev?" She asks innocently.

"Why did you get all of the clothing to support the bloody GRYFFINDORS?!" He answers.

"You chose the _Slytherin_ theme for the nursery so why should I not be allowed to choose the _Gryffindor_ theme for her clothing?" She asks sweetly.

"I had bought her an entire wardrobe already. What did you do with it?" He asked.

"Everything in the dresser is originally what you bought; it has just been charmed to be more feminine and supportive of Gryffindor." She explained.

"What was wrong with how they were originally?" He asked.

"Severus, are you honestly asking me that question? Every last article of clothing in the dresser was black, green, silver, or blue!" She exclaimed softly so as not to wake their daughter.

"So? What's wrong with those colors? I think that the black clothing would look incredible on her." He huffed.

"If she were going to a funeral then I would agree." She said.

"You will change all of the clothing back as soon as you put her to bed." He commanded.

"If I change it back then you will be sleeping by yourself for the rest of the month." She snapped.

"Bloody hell woman! I cannot be seen with my little girl supporting GRYFFINDOR!" He cried, almost waking their daughter up.

"Severus you will wake her up if you keep on with your ranting. I suggest you calm yourself, suck it up and act like the man you are and not like a child." She scolded him. "How about this, every year we will swap on who gets to choose her things. However, I want the first year meaning when she turns one you can choose her clothes." She bargains. He thinks this over and reluctantly agrees.

"Fine," he says "but there has to be at least one ENTIRE black outfit for her at all times."

"Alright," she sighs knowing that this was a small price to pay.

"Good." He says. "Now take this" he hands her a sleeping draught, "and get some rest. I will take care of Nevaeh and will wake you if I need you." He says as he picks up his daughter from her arms.

"Fine," she says in defeat as she downs the sleeping draught and slowly starts to nod off to sleep.

"Good night darling. I love you." He says then kisses her forehead. She smiles and snuggles deeper into the covers.


	8. Chapter 8

Severus walks out of the bedroom with Nevaeh and returns to the nursery where he sits down in the rocking chair and gently rocks his daughter back and forth. He smirks when she snuggles closer to him. Albus, Minerva, and Poppy who had stayed behind when Severus left the room smiled at the sight of him already being wrapped around his daughter's little finger.

"I must say Severus, fatherhood seems to suit you." Albus says, bringing Severus' attention back to the group.

"For once Albus, I must agree with you." He answers with a smile as he continues to rock his daughter.

"So Severus what do you think about Hermione's clothing choice?" Minerva asks with a knowing smirk. He scowls at this while the others just laugh at his reaction.

"Honestly? I don't like it. However we came to a compromise for the clothing. Every year we will swap with who gets to choose her ward robe. From now until she is one Hermione will get to choose the clothing. Once she turns one then I will get to choose it. Until she turns eighteen we will continue to swap years." He explains.

"Severus you do realize that by doing this Hermione will get all the even years, _including_ Nevaeh's _sixteenth and eighteenth_ birthday don't you?" Poppy asks. Severus looks at her confused and then as this piece of information a look of understanding crosses his face.

"She wouldn't dare!" He whispers darkly.

"You are forgetting that you married _Hermione Granger_, Severus. She has her way of always getting what she wants." Minerva reminds him.

"I have to agree with your mother Severus. I can't remember a single time that Hermione hasn't gotten what she wanted." Albus says, making Severus look over to Poppy for help.

"I'm sorry Severus. Even when she was in my care I still couldn't stop her from doing what she wanted." Poppy tells him with an irritated look on her face as she remembered how when Hermione had been hurt from Dolohov instead of resting she had been surrounded by defense books and had read the entire time she was in the hospital wing.

"No! I won't let it happen! It will be a cold day in hell before I let her choose clothing for those occasions!" He cries waking Nevaeh up. Her eyes open as her lip begins to quiver. "No, no, no. Shh it's alright. It's alright. I'm sorry. Daddy didn't mean to wake you up honey. Shh it's alright. Daddy's here. Don't cry." He whispered to her as he gently rocked her back and forth in an attempt to stop her from crying. She calms down and goes back to sleep, snuggling further into the comfort of her father's arms. Albus, Minerva, and Poppy watched in awe as the dreaded Potions Master turned into the most loving father they had ever seen.

"My goodness Severus, I've never seen you care for a crying child so much! Not even the ones from your own house!" Minerva exclaimed.

"That's because my daughter isn't a dunderhead, unlike all the other students that I have the displeasure of teaching; especially when they are from your house." He explained with a smirk as he continued to calm his daughter down. Minerva huffed while Albus and Poppy just shook their heads at the show of House Rivalry in Hogwarts.

"My house? My house! What about your house?" Minerva exclaims. "Your house holds the most insolate, troublesome, disrespectful students that have ever attended Hogwarts!"

"Are you sure you aren't talking about your house, Minerva?" Severus replies with a smirk. "Your house does harbor the most troublesome students that I have ever taught. Or have you for gotten the Weasley twins, not to mention all the rule breaking expeditions that the Golden Trio went on every year?"

"You know very well that if it weren't for the Weasley twins, your life at Hogwarts would have been just as dull as it was when you first started teaching here." She answers. "As for Mrs. Snape, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Weasley what they went through every year was not their fault and you know it."

"Yes, but because of them there was a major increase in the number of students found in the hospital wing." Poppy says.

"Need I say more?" Severus asks them.

"You are unbelievable." Minerva says. "You are actually going to blame three people for events that they had no control over?"

"Of course not," Severus says surprising them. "I only blame two of them; the third one was only trying to stop the dunderheads in the first place. She shouldn't have been placed in danger in the first place, then again if she hadn't been there those two imbeciles would have been dead a long time ago."

"She was just as guilty as the other two were, and don't you dare deny it. We all know it was Ms. Granger who stole from your private stores in her second year and made an illegal poly juice potion." Minerva stated.

"That may be true but she had already served her punishment." He says with a smirk.

"Ah, yes. Ms. Granger was stuck in the body of a feline was she not?" Albus asked.

"Yes Albus she was." Severus says as he tried not to laugh at the memory.

"The worst part about it was that she kept coughing up hair balls in the hospital wing." Poppy murmured. Everyone laughed at this, even Severus was not able to stop the chuckle that escaped him. "Who do you think Nevaeh will be like more, Hermione or Severus?"

"She will be more like me of course! She is my little princess and therefore will be the Slytherin Princess." Severus says.

"You never know Severus. She could follow in her mother's footsteps and be the next Gryffindor Princess." Minerva says with a smirk.

"Minerva, if that happens I will stop wearing all black and I will be pleasant to my classes until she graduates." He says. "But, if she gets into Slytherin then you will have to give me your signed copy of the first edition of _Potions Through The Ages." _

"You have yourself a deal Severus." Minerva says as she shakes his hand.

"I just hope you are prepared to lose." He chuckles.

"I could say the same to you, Severus." Minerva says.

"Do you think Severus will win Albus?" Poppy asks.

"I'm unsure Poppy. Only time can tell." Albus responds. Severus hears this and chuckles, then looks down at his daughter.

"Yes, only time can tell." He says to her.


	9. Chapter 9

The days came and went for the Snape family. With each passing day Nevaeh slowly grew. She had started to crawl at five months and was walking by the time she was nine months. She was a quiet baby for the most part. She slept soundly through the nights and was very active during the day. She was a happy little girl and was loved by all. She was the perfect mix of both of her parents. She had gotten her mother's beauty, as well as her stubbornness, kindness towards all creatures, and her untamable hair. From her father she had gotten his facial expressions, skill of sneaking up on people, love for dark colored clothing, and most of all his Slytherin ways. Nevaeh had gotten her thirst for knowledge from both of her parents, as well as her temper, love for books (which she had her parents read to her everyday), quick thinking, intelligence, and determination.

It was Nevaeh's first birthday and everyone in the school had helped to decorate the castle for the little girl's big day. Since it had been raining outside today the school decided that the party would be thrown inside in the Great Hall. Streamers and balloons were hung throughout the halls of the school. The Great Hall was decorated much like a child's version of the Yule Ball. Hanging above the staff table was a banner that read: HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY NEVAEH! On both sides of the banner were balloons that were charmed to change colors every few seconds. There were potted trees placed here and there all around the room. The floor had been enchanted to show the Hogwarts crest, with Hogwarts in the middle and the Houses in each corner of the room. The ceiling was enchanted to show a sunny day and every now and then you could see a rainbow in the sky. There were round tables going around the room and a long white table in the back that was filled with presents. The hall was filled with cheerful music and everyone was dressed for the party. They were all waiting for Nevaeh, Hermione, and Severus to show up so that the party could begin. The doors to the hall opened and in walked Hermione and Nevaeh carrying her stuffed dragon.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NEVAEH!" Everyone cheered. Nevaeh looked up and with sad eyes smiled at everyone. Not many people noticed this but the few who did waited until the party started to ask what was wrong with the little girl. People danced and ate and wished Nevaeh a happy first. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Fred and George all came up to Hermione while Nevaeh was dancing.

"Hermione is Nevaeh alright?" Harry asks.

"Yeah why does she look so upset?" Ron asks.

"It's Severus." She answers.

"Did something happen to him?" Ginny asks.

"He went to a Potions Conference a few days ago and hasn't returned yet. I don't know if he will be back in time for the party." Hermione replied sadly.

"She misses him doesn't she?" Neville asks. Hermione nods.

"That would explain why there are so many Wrackspurts around her." Luna says dreamily.

"Fred?" George asks turning to his brother.

"George?" Fred asks as he does the same.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" They ask in unison.

"Oh, no you don't! Whatever you two are planning you had better stop. I will NOT let you ruin my baby's birthday party." Hermione hissed.

"Hermione, we're hurt by your accusation…" Fred starts.

"We would never ruin her party." George finishes.

"We would only make it better!" They said together.

"You ready Fred?" George says whipping his wand out.

"Ready, George!" Fred says whipping his own wand out.

"One…"

"Two…"

"THR- AHHH!" They yelled as they were suddenly lifted into the air upside down, dropping their wands in the process. Everyone turned to see what was going on.

"I believe my wife told you not to mess with our little girl's birthday party." Severus says in a deadly tone as he steps out of the doorway.

"DA DA!" Nevaeh cries and runs across the room to hug her father, shocking Severus so much that he dropped his wand and the twins fell out of the air.

"OW!" The twins cried when they landed. But no one was paying them any mind because their attention was on the little girl who had just said her first word.

"You talked. She talked! My baby girl is talking!" Severus cries out in happiness as he picks her up, spins her around and hugs her. Nevaeh laughs and hugs her father. "Happy birthday Princess," he whispers to her as he kisses her head. They smile at each other and then turn to Hermione who has tears of joy in her eyes from hearing her daughter's first words. "Hello darling."

"Hello love." She says with a smile as she walks up to them. She picks up his wand on the way and hands it back to him.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He says as he brushes a strand of stray hair behind her ear.

"You're here now, and that's all that matters." She says as she hugs him.

"When did she start talking?" He asked.

"Just now actually, that was her first word." She replied. "It's almost as if she refused to talk until you were here to hear her first words." Nevaeh nodded at this and gave them a big grin. At this they gave her a confused look.

"Princess, did you wait until I was back to start talking?" Severus asked her. Again she nodded to them. Severus smiled and kissed her head. "Thank you." Just then a group of house elves appeared with a very large pink cake with 'Happy Birthday Nevaeh' written in cursive with a number one candle in the middle of the cake.

"We brings little misses a cake for hers party." One of the elves says. Nevaeh smiles and tries to get down. When she is released she quickly goes over and hugs each of the elves.

"Thank you all for this." Hermione says to them. Nevaeh goes over to the cake a gives it a frown. "What's wrong baby? Do you not like the cake?" Nevaeh looks at her mother and then back at the cake. Suddenly the cake goes from pink to green with silver and black icing. Everyone looks in astonishment. Not only had the little girl said her first word today but she had also done her first show of accidental magic. Severus let out a baritone laugh to which most of the women in the room swooned over.

"Well Minerva," he says to the elderly witch, "I do believe I am going to win our little bet. I think you should just admit defeat while you still have a chance."

"Not so fast Severus. She is only one. She still has ten more years before she is sorted into her correct house." Minerva answered.

"Nonsense, I say we bring the sorting hat out now and see which house she is put in." He says. Just then the sorting hat appears out of nowhere. "Well that was convenient."He mutters as he picks up the hat and places it on his daughter's head.

"HOGWARTS" The sorting hat shouts as soon as the hat touches her head. Everyone looks at the little girl with a confused look. There had only ever been one other person who had been sorted into Hogwarts by the sorting hat, and that had been Lady Hogwarts. Harry comes up and takes it off of her head.

"Maybe it's broken or outdated." Harry says.

"Don't be absurd. That hat was made by the founders themselves. It is unlikely that anything can damage it." Severus sneered.

"You would know all about that wouldn't you Severus Snape? After all it was you who tried to destroy me at least four times a week when you went to Hogwarts here." The sorting hat says.

"You did what?!" Hermione cried.

"It's true. I think his favorite time was when he tried to destroy me was when he stole some ingredients from the private stores." The hat said.

"And you had the nerve to tell me off when you did the exact same thing?!" Hermione shouted.

"Looks like someone is sleeping on the couch tonight" the hat teased.

"Quiet you. Or else I may just succeed the next time in my attempts to rid this school of your bloody existence." Severus threatened as he picked up the hat and pointed his wand at it.

"DA DA," Nevaeh cried. Severus looks down at his daughter to see her shaking her head and frowning at him. She stretches her arm out and with her eyes silently asks for the hat. He raises a brow at her to which she mirrors back at him. He sighs and hands her the hat.

"I never thought I would see the day where Severus Snape would give in to the demands of a child." Harry laughed.

"Shut it Potter or you shall become my test subjects for my latest potions." Severus threatened. Harry gulped and slowly backed away from him.

"That won't be necessary." He replied. Nevaeh put the hat back on her head.

"SLYTHINDOR" the hat cried.

"Shh" Nevaeh said to the hat as she grabbed Neville by the hand and began dancing with him.

"Looks like the birthday girl would like to get back to her party. Who are we to deny her that wish?" Albus says as he grabs his wife and begins to spin her around.

"ALBUS" Minerva cries but continues to dance with him none the less. Everyone laughs and the party resumes.

"May I have this dance?" Severus asks Hermione as he holds out his hand.

"I would be honored." She says as she places her hand in his. They dance through three songs before they were interrupted.

"May I cut in?" Ron asks tapping Severus' shoulder. Severus looked at him, then at his wife, then back at him again.

"Alright," he said reluctantly, "just know this Weasley if you try _anything_ with my wife I will kill you and they will never be able to find the body." He said in a deadly tone as he passed his wife to Ron.

"Understood Sir" Ron said, his voice laced with fear. Hermione and Ron began to dance. "You would think that since we graduated he would be a little more civil." He said.

"Well if you would quit making advances on my person then maybe he would treat you better." She scolded him.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Mione." He said tightening his hold on her.

"Ronald." She said in a warning tone.

"Why are you even with him Mione? I could make you so much happier if you would only give me the chance." He said to her.

"I'm with him because I love him and he loves me. Not to mention we are happily married and have a little girl." She snaps at him. She tries to move away from him but he just tightens his hold on her even more. "Let me go Ronald or else." She says.

"Come on Hermione, don't be like that. I-"

"STUPEFY" Someone says. The spell hits Ron in the middle of his back. Ron lets go of Hermione and slumps to the floor. Hermione looks up at her savior and notices an extremely pissed off Severus Snape headed their way with Nevaeh following close behind with a frown. Severus walks over to Ron and lifts him from the floor then smashes his face into a wall.

"SEVERUS!" Molly, Minerva, and Hermione scream. They tried to remove the Potions Master's grip on the young Weasley, but they were quickly pulled away from the two men.

"I warned you Weasley. I told you not to try anything with my wife. Give me one good reason I should let you live." He says in a deadly tone.

"You would be put in Azkaban." Ron says.

"I do believe if they heard the reason for your death then they would turn the other cheek. Let's see harassment on several different levels, sexual assault, attempted rape, and if being a dunderhead were a crime you would be charged with that too. So again give me one good reason why I should let you live." Severus snarls.

"Um…um…" Ron stutters.

"That's what I thought Weasley." Severus sneers.

"Severus." Hermione says as she breaks the hold that Harry has on her. "Let him go. He's not worth it. Besides we could get a restraining order on him if he tries to do it again. Plus do you really want to give Molly a reason to give you a lecture or would you rather that the entire Weasley family seek their revenge on you?" She asks.

"I still don't see the reason you keep defending this idiot. He's as much of a dunderhead as he was when you were in school." He sneers.

"While I agree that he is a dunderhead-" she says.

"HEY" Ron cries.

"That does not mean that I am defending him for being an idiot. I am only suggesting that you not do anything that you might regret later." She said.

"Believe me when I say I wouldn't regret anything." He said.

"Severus." She warned.

"You're lucky that my wife was here to defend you Weasley otherwise you would be six feet under." He says as he throws Ron to the ground. Ron lands on his back with a groan. Nevaeh walks up to him and kicks him in the ribs then walks away with a smile on her face. Minerva and Molly are released and they quickly head over to the young Weasley.

"RONALD WEASLEY!" Molly screams as she knocks him upside his head.

"Bloody hell" he moans. Molly begins to reprimand her youngest son.

"I can't believe you would do something like this and at a child's birthday party no less!" Molly says.

"I have to agree with your mother Mr. Weasley. Your actions were inexcusable. Why if it weren't for Hermione he probably would have killed you." Minerva says.

"And I doubt I would have stopped him. How would you feel if he were to try and take your woman?" Molly asked him.

"He basically did! He took Hermione from me! Hermione was supposed to marry me!" Ron cried.

"That's it you're coming with me young man." She says grabbing him by the ear and dragging him out of the room.

"OW! BLOODY HELL WOMAN" he cries as he is drug from the room.

"Well, now that that's settled, how about we bring out the piñata?" Albus asks. He flicks his wand and a lion piñata attached to the ceiling appears. Albus hands Nevaeh a bat and she swings at the piñata. Each child takes a swing at the piñata but it still doesn't break finally Nevaeh grabs the bat and holds it out to her father.

"And just what makes you think I'm going to hit a piñata?" He asks quirking an eyebrow. She points to the piñata and everyone watches as the lion shifts into a replica of Ronald Weasley. She turns back to her father and grins at him. He grins back at her. "Now that is worth hitting." He says with a laugh. He takes the bat from her and tells everyone to back up. He closes his eyes and imagines that the piñata is the real Ronald Weasley. He opens his eyes, pulls the bat back and then swings it forward putting all of his strength into the blow. The bat hits the piñata and breaks it straight open. All of the candy spills from the piñata and the children begin to swarm like ants. Severus turns to Hermione. "This has got to be the best party ever. Can we have a piñata made for every holiday and event?" He asks with a smile. Hermione laughs as well as everyone else who heard him say this.


	10. Chapter 10

"Alright everyone, it's time for cake." Hermione calls. Severus picks up Nevaeh and heads over to the cake. Everyone starts to make a circle around them and as Severus lights the candle on the cake they begin to sing Happy Birthday to Nevaeh.

"Make a wish and blow out the candle Princess." Severus says when the song is over. Nevaeh closes her eyes, makes a wish, and then blows out the candle. Everyone claps and cake is cut and handed out to everyone. After the cake is eaten and everything is cleaned up it was time for presents. "Alright Princess, which one do you want first?" Severus asks. She looks around at all of the presents on the table and chooses a dark green one with cauldrons all over it. She sits down on the floor shakes it then starts to unwrap it. When all of the wrapping paper is off she opens the bow and pulls out a miniature version of the Slytherin uniform. She looks up at her father knowing that this is from him. He smiles back at her and flicks his wand at her. The outfits swap so that she is now wearing her present. Her smile gets even bigger when she sees that she is finally out of her party dress. She throws the dress and runs up to her father and plants a big kiss on his cheek.

"Why?" Hermione groans.

"Because of our agreement with her wardrobe I now have full control of her clothing choices. You will see that her entire wardrobe has been replaced when we get back to our chambers." He says with a smirk. She groans but decides to let it go, for now. Severus lets Nevaeh down and she grabs another present. This one was long and was covered in snitches. She opened it and pulled out a miniature broom with a note attached to it. She smiles and passes the note to her father.

"I thought you might need this if we were ever going to see you on a Quidditch in the future. From: Uncle Harry." Severus reads.

"Harry James Potter! You bought my daughter a bloody broom?!" Hermione yells. "What were you thinking? She could hurt herself on that death trap!"

"Hermione she will be perfectly safe. I had safety charms put on it so that the only time she can get on or off is when both her feet are on the ground." Harry explained raising his arms in defeat.

"It's dangerous!" She cried.

"Severus already approved it so it is completely safe." Harry said. Hermione turned around to face her husband to give him a piece of her mind.

"You did what?" She hissed, glaring at him.

"Don't give me that look. I thought that would be nice to let her get a head start on her flying before she starts school. Hopefully when she ends up in Slytherin she will also join the Quidditch team. Besides do you really think I would allow my daughter to have something that might be hazardous to her health?" He asked with an amused smirk. Hermione was about to comment but stopped when she heard someone squeal. She looked over and saw her daughter hovering in the air on her new broom.

"Nevaeh get down from there this instant!" She cried. But she didn't listen. Instead she leaned forward on the broom and took off around the room, going higher and faster than someone her age should be going.

"Uh-oh" Harry says.

"What do you mean uh-oh?" Hermione asked turning to Harry.

"Severus did we remember to add-?" Harry asks.

"Shit!" Severus exclaimed. He looked up at his daughter with worried eyes as she continued to go faster and faster. "Potter, grab your broom and get your arse up there!"

"Accio Firebolt!" Harry cries. The broom soars into the room and flies into his hand. He mounts the broom and takes off after the little girl. They fly out of the room, through the halls, and out the doors to the school grounds with all of the party-goers following in hot pursuit. He chases her around the grounds but isn't able to catch up to her. Some of the others call for their brooms and they join in the chase.

"Severus, get her down from there!" Hermione pleads as tears come to her eyes.

"Accio Thunderbird!" He calls. The broom zooms into his hand and he immediately mounts it. He takes off after his daughter at a speed so fast that he passes the others in mere seconds, leaving them gaping in his stead. Nevaeh looks behind her to see her father catching up to her. She looks forward and urges the broom to go even faster. Severus sees this and he picks up speed, quickly closing the distance. He pulls up beside her. "Nevaeh Eileen Snape if you don't pull that broom to a stop I will feed you Hagrid's cooking for a week." He says sternly. She immediately stops her broom when she hears him say this. Severus turns his broom around so that they are facing each other. Tears well up in her eyes and she begins to cry. He tilts her head up so that she is looking directly into his eyes. "Princess, I'm not upset with you. Daddy and Uncle Harry just forgot to add some very important charms to the broom so that you wouldn't get hurt. We aren't taking your broom from you we just need to add them real fast and then you can go back to flying." He says watching her dry her tears and smile at him. "You are an incredible flyer and I would not even think about trying to stop you from flying. Your mother on the other hand is a different matter." He says. She frowns at this. "Don't worry I won't let her take it. But we do need to go down so that we can add the charms and you still have quite a few presents left to open." He says. She smiles and they begin to descend to the ground where the others were waiting for them. They land and dismount their brooms. Nevaeh is immediately swept into the arms of her mother and crushed into a hug.

"Oh sweetie, thank Merlin you're alright." She said peppering her daughter's face with kisses. She turns towards Harry and Severus. "I should box both your ears. What were you thinking giving her something like that?! She could have gotten hurt or worse!" She yelled.

"Hermione, love she was perfectly fine. We just forgot to put the height and speed limitations on the broom before we gave it to her." Severus says looking somewhat ashamed at forgetting something so important.

"You forgot. YOU FORGOT! Of all the bloody things you could ever do you _forget _to put the most important charms on a bloody broom?! What if she had lost control of the broom and crashed?" She continued.

"Hermione it was a mistake; one that will be fixed immediately." Severus said.

"It had better." She says as she scowls at him. "By the way, what did you say to her to get her to come down?"

"I threatened to feed her Hagrid's cooking for a week." He says with a chuckle.

"My cookin' aint that bad," Hagrid mumbles. Everyone laughs at this.

"That was amazing! Did you see how fast both of you were going? I couldn't even keep up with her!" Harry exclaimed to Severus. "How in the world did you learn to fly like that?"

"Potter if it weren't for your father and the rest of the Marauders, I would have joined the Slytherin Quidditch team as Seeker. Everyone in my year knew I could fly. I was faster than the Marauders, Lucius, and Rolanda Hooch; thereby, also making me faster than you." Severus says with a smirk.

"Bloody Hell you were faster than Rolanda?! I didn't think that was even possible!" Harry says as he remembers the time that he challenged her to a race around the Forbidden Forest. She had done eight laps before he was even half way through his first lap.

"Believe me Potter it's possible." Severus says.

"I still think you cheated." Rolanda says as she approaches the two of them. Severus laughs at this.

"Surely you can't _still_ be mad at the fact you lost that race. You _know_ I won fair and square." He says with a chuckle.

"I still think you cheated." She mumbles.

"Think what you want but if it will make you feel any better we can have a rematch. I will even use the same broom just to make it fair." He says with a smirk.

"Slytherins don't play fair." She retorted.

"Madame you wound me." He says sarcastically.

"Let's go back inside so that Nevaeh can finish opening her presents." Hermione says. Everyone heads back inside and Nevaeh goes back to opening her presents. Most of the females had given her clothes, while the men gave her toys and sweets, including Fred and George whose presents were confiscated and checked immediately. She had just finishing opening her last present when Fawks flew into the room and dropped a small package into her lap, then flew over and landed on the Headmaster's shoulder. Everyone gave the bird a quizzical look then turned to look at the package. Nevaeh eyed the package curiously and began to open it. Inside was a gold ring made of two snakes that wrapped around each other that met together at the top to hold a 2.5 carat diamond. Attached to it was a note. Severus picked up the note.

"You are the only woman who has ever managed to capture my heart. I pray that we will be together again soon. Forever Yours, S. S." Severus read. "Alright whose idea for a joke was this?" Severus demanded angrily. Everyone looked around and started whispering to one another. When no one answered, Severus' temper began to rise, making his magic unstable. All around them balloons began to pop, tables and chairs started shaking and were slowly lifted from the ground. A dark shadow began to surround the Potions Master and the entire hall could feel the negative energy rolling off of him in waves. He was about to unleash his anger when he felt someone put their hand on his arm.

"Severus, you need to calm down love." Hermione says. "This is probably just a big misunderstanding. Maybe the package was delivered to the wrong person." She said uncertainly.

"It had better be. If this happens again I will personally hunt down whoever sends the package and end their existence." He says. He calms down and his magic begins to stabilize. The party slowly comes to an end and the visitors all give their last wishes to the family before they took their leave. After everyone had left and the hall was once again clean, the house elves took the presents down to the Snape's chambers. Shortly after, Hermione picked up a sleepy Nevaeh, and carried her down to their chambers to put her to bed, leaving Severus and the Headmaster to talk in private.


	11. Chapter 11

"What do you think about all of this, Albus?"

"Honestly my boy? I don't know what to think. This could either be a practical joke played by one of the students or it could be that someone out there truly does love her."

"She's a CHILD!" Severus yelled.

"I know Severus. However mating in our world is not as uncommon as it seems; especially when Veelas are involved. When one imprints on their mate, they will begin to show their affection and become overprotective or territorial in most cases of their mate." Albus explained.

"Do you mean to tell me that _someone or something imprinted_ on my DAUGHTER?!"

"It's quite possible. However as I said before, this could also possibly be a joke played by one of the students for a good laugh."

"Albus, if I find out that any of the students did do this as a joke they will be fed to the Acromantulas."

"Now, Severus there is no need to go to such extremes when nothing can even be proven in the first place."

"Mark my words Albus, whoever sent this will have hell to pay." He answered, before turning on the spot and stalking away, with his robes billowing behind him. Albus just shook his head in amusement at the thought of how much his Potion Master had changed since Hermione and Nevaeh entered his life.

Severus angrily stalked down the corridors towards his family's chambers in the dungeons. When he was a few feet away from the door, he began to calm down; knowing that going in there when he was upset would do nothing to help solve the problem. He entered there chambers and quietly closed the door behind him. "Hermione?" he called.

"In here, love." She called back. He came into their daughter's room and knelt at the foot of their daughter's bed.

"DA DA!" Nevaeh cried happily, as she wound her arms around his neck.

"Hey, Princess; what are you still doing up?" He asked as he hugged her.

"I was just putting her to sleep but she refuses to lie down until you tell her a story."

"Is that so? Well, if that's the case then what story would you like to hear?" He asked her. She pulled a book from her pillowcase titled: The Beginner's Guide to Potions and smiled up at him. "This one again?" he laughed as he took the book from her. She nodded her head and looked expectantly at him while she snuggled into her covers. He opened the book and began to read, "The art of potion-making is just that; an art…" He began. Ten minutes later he heard light snores coming from his daughter and knew that she had fallen asleep. He placed a bookmark in the book and put it on her dresser. Then he went over to the bed and properly tucked in his sleeping child; giving her a kiss when he was sure that she was warm he whispered "I love you, Princess" in her ear. He then moved aside so that his wife could also kiss her goodnight. When they were done both parents exited the room and went to their room and got ready for bed. They slipped under the covers, kissed each other goodnight, whispered their "I love you's" and fell asleep in each other's arms with a smile on both of their faces.


End file.
